Two Paths Diverge In A Yellow Wood
by lyterayz012
Summary: Duskpaw does her best to follow the warrior code, but of course she makes mistakes. Who doesn't? Follow her as she becomes a warrior, falls in love with a cat from another clan, makes journeys, and breaks hearts. Story is better thant he summary :
1. List of Cats

**Authors Note: **This is my first published story about the Warriors series. I do not own the books (I wish^^). No, that is all the great work of a lovely Erin Hunter. I'm just an obsessed fan :D This is the only time that I am going to say that I do not own these books.

**ThunderClan:**

**Leader:**

Memorystar (tabby and white she-cat with green eyes and short fur)

**Deputy: **

Birchtail (dark tabby tom, with white paws and a white ear)

**Medicane Cat: **

Silverfur (silver tabby she-cat, blue eyes)

**Warriors: **

Honeyfur (ginger she-cat)_--Skypaw_

Patchpelt (black and white tom)_--Fernpaw_

Oakfield (black tom)_--Snakepaw_

Frostheart (white she-cat, green eyes)

Stonefur (solid grey tom)_--Duskpaw_

**Apprentices:**

Skypaw (white she-cat, 10 moons)

Snakepaw (long furred tabby tom, 10 moons)

Fernpaw (blue tabby she-cat, 7 moons)

Duskpaw (tortoishell she-cat, 8 moons)

**Queens:**

Ivyheart (white and ginger she-cat, mate of Oakfield)

Kits: Dawnkit (orange she-kit, 3 moons old)

Nightkit (black tom, 3 moons old)

**RiverClan:**

**Leader: **

Rushingstar (Silver tabby she-cat)

**Deputy: **

Smokefur (grey tom)

**Medicane Cat: **

Mapleleaf (brown tabby she-cat)

**Warriors:**

Clearstream (white she-cat)_--Pebblepaw_

Dirtfur (brown tom)

Stormcloud (mottled grey tom)

**Apprentices:**

Pebblepaw (blue tabby tom)

**Queens:**

Mistygaze (silver she-cat, mate of Dirtfur)

Kit: Volekit (tan tom)

**WindClan:**

**Leader: **

Essencestar (silver she-cat)

**Deputy:**

Lilyheart (tabby and white she-cat)

**Medicane Cat:**

Rabbitfoot (white and black tom)_--Owlpaw_

**Warriors:**

Dawnfur (orange and white she-cat)

Jaywing (brown and black tom)

Tigerpelt (orange tom with black tiger stripes)

**Apprentices:**

Owlpaw (grey and white tom)

**Queens:**

**ShadowClan:**

**Leader: **

Hallowstar (small black tom)

**Deputy:**

Solemngaze (large brown tabby tom)

**Medicane Cat:**

Wisdomeheart (elderly white and grey tom)_--Tawnypaw_

**Warriors:**

Willowfur (brown and white she-cat)

Canaryfur (ginger tom)

Emberheart (black and silver she-cat)

**Apprentices:**

Tawnypaw (tortoishell she-cat)

Flamepaw (ginger tom)

**Queens:**


	2. Chapter 1

The morning sunlight came through a hole in the Apprentice's den, directly hitting Duskpaw's face, waking her slowly. Sleepily, she rubbed one paw across her face. Her ears pricked, listening to the sounds of the camp in the early morning. Some cats, like her, were just beginning to stir. Others, she could hear, were arriving back from the dawn patrol. She stretched, listening to the growling of her hungry stomach. She had skipped eating the night before, to exhausted from training. She wanted to be the best warrior she could, and she put alot of effort into practice.

She shook her head, clearing it, before stepping out of the den into the morning light. The sun lit her brown and orange pelt up, making it glow, though she couldn't see it. Snakepaw, the only tom apprentice currently, however, noticed. He smiled at her, though she walked by as though she didn't see him. She didn't like him much; he was the loudest, most boastful tom she knew. He never took anything seriously, and was always wanting to play fight or joke around. He was such a... _kit! _

She walked up to the fresh-kill pile, noting that it looked low. _I should hunt some more, after I eat._ She decided, grabbing a plump mouse in her jaws. She looked around, and saw that her best friend, Fernpaw, was also awake. She bounded over to the blue tabby she-cat, laying down next to her. Her friend was laying in a patch of sun, rolling a twig between her paws. She set the mouse between them, and mewed,

"Good morning! Want to share this with me?"

Fernpaw returned her smile, but shook her head slowly. "No, thanks. I already ate."

"Suit yourself, then." Duskpaw said, her tone light as she settled down to eat her mouse. She finished it in a couple of gulps, then took to grooming her fur. After she decided she looked nice enough, she stood up. "I was planning on going hunting now. Come with me?"

Fernpaw blinked, thinking about it. She stood up, stretching out her muscles. "Sure, why not." She shrugged, leading the way out of the tunnel. On their way out, they passed Duskpaw's mentor, Stonefur. He was a large tom, well muscled, with solid grey fur and kind amber eyes. "Where are you two going?" He asked, stopping to stand next to them.

"Hunting, we noticed the fresh-kill pile was running low." Duskpaw answered, stifling a yawn. It was still early, and there was a chill in the air that warned the cats of the upcoming Leaf-bare.

Stonefur nodded. "Good idea." He said, before heading into the camp. As soon as he was gone, the apprentices set off again, heading deep into the forest. It wasn't long before Duskpaw heard the scratching sound of a voles claws on a leaf. She pricked her ears, pinpointing the creature. A flash of grey gave it away, and she pounced. Its neck was broken before it could make a sound. Feeling triumphant at having made such a clean kill, she quickly buried her prey, and began looking for more. It wasn't long before a mouse, and a blackbird joined the vole. Just after the sun reached its highest point, Fernpaw caught up with her, a mouse and a thrush dangling from her jaws.

"I think we can head back now." She said, around her freshly caught prey. The orange and brown she-cat waved her tail at her fellow apprentice. "You go ahead." She mewed. "I'm not ready to go back yet." She prefered being out in the forest than it camp, though she never understood why.

She watched Fernpaw's retreating figure untill she was out of sight and earshot, before going back to hunting. This was what she liked doing best; hunting, not fighting. There was just something she didn't like about hurting a fellow cat, even if they weren't a clanmate. But even so, she wouldn't hesitate to defend her clan if it were absolutley neccesary.

She headed toward the two-leg path that represented the border between ThunderClan and ShadowClan. She knew that several different types of prey could be found here, and so it was her favorite place to hunt... despite the sickening stench coming from ShadowClan. She sent grew stronger and stronger as she neared the border, and she began to hear the sounds of a cat walking through leaves. Duskpaws fur bristled, as she pictured a ShadowClan cat on her territory. She spotted the other cat almost as soon as she heard him; his fur made him truly stand out in the forest. It was a bright orangey red, with a bright white underbelly. The ShadowClanner had to be an apprentice; he was about her own size, if not a little smaller. The second thing that she noticed was that he hadn't really crossed the border. He was a foxlength into his own territory.

She also noticed that his gaze was fixed upon something; she followed it, and noticed that it was a mouse, directly on the border. Practically no-mans land; she couldn't tell if the prey was on her side or his, and apparently neither could he. His claws were unsheathed, and if he noticed that she was standing there, he gave no sign.

The mouse had to have known what it was doing. It was going along the forest floor, directly on the border. She followed it, as did he, practically mimicking her movements. They did that, almost side by side, for several fox-lengths. She was grinning; this was almost like a game. Finally, the mouse veered off, directly into the tom. He pounced, and with a tiny squeek the mouse was dead. He looked at her, a faint smile on his face as well.

"Good catch." She commented, sitting down to wash her paw.

"Thanks?" He replied, making it sound like a question. He obviously couldn't tell why she was being nice to him.

"My names Duskpaw. Whats yours?" She asked, trying to be friendly. It wasn't everyday that she got to talk to a cat that she didn't know, and Gatherings didn't count. Then, you were forced to be nice to eachother, or risk the rath of StarClan.

"I'm Flamepaw." He said, still smiling though there was a question in your eyes.

She chuckled. "I should have known. Your pelt is a bright orange." She added, when he tilted his head.

"Oh." He mewed, with a laugh of his own. "Yeah, I stick out like a sore thumb, don't I?" He made a face at himself.

Duskpaw let out a full laugh; she liked his sense of humor better than Snakepaws. _His _sense of humor was dirty, and mean. This Flamepaws was actually funny.

She heard a patrol coming their way, and knew instantly that it was some of her clanmates. What would they think when they saw her with Flamepaw? Her eyes widened.

"I've got to go... bye!" She whispered loud enough for him to hear, before darting away. Somehow, she knew that that wouldn't be the last time that they spoke outside of a Gathering. As quietly as she could, she made her way back to her buried prey. She gathered as much as she could in her mouth, and headed back to camp. What would her Clan say if they knew she had just been talking to a ShadowClanner, like a friend? She decided that she wouldn't tell anyone. Sighing, she made her way into camp. Another day of training.


	3. Chapter 2

Several sunrises later, Duskpaw found herself in the clearing, with her mentor Stonefur. It was a circular patch of clear grass, several fox-lengths long and wide. It was a perfect day to be out, though there was a slight chill. Leaf-bare was coming, but for now the skies were clear and sunny. The birds that haven't left yet were still singing, and a woodpecker could be heard in the distance.

The two were practicing her fighting skills, something she didn't enjoy but knew she had to learn. She make a move to roll, to get away from him, but he pinned her to the ground on her back. As he was above her, she pummeled his stomach with her hind feet, claws sheathed. He jumped off, and she leapt to her feet to face him. She was breathing hard, and her sides were heaving slightly. He didn't look exhausted in anyway. The circled, facing each other, the grey tom's muzzle bearing a slight smile. Before she could enact another move on him, though, he raised his head and mewed, "Okay, trainings over for today."

"So soon?" She asked, though she plopped herself down on the matted grass in relief. He chuckled at her behavior.

"Yes, the Gatherings tonight. Memorystar asked me to let you know that you are going. Go back to camp and get plenty of rest."

Despite her exhaustion, Duskpaw leapt to her feet. The Gathering! This would only be the second one she'd been to. "Yes, Stonefur." She said quickly as she darted past him on the way to camp.

~Later that Night~

When she woke up some time later, the sun had fallen and it was dark out. The moon was about midway to the height of the sky, so it was time they left. The other apprentice that was going, Skypaw, nudged her side. Skypaw was the smallest apprentice out of them all, even though she was the oldest. She was sister to Snakepaw, but they looked nothing alike. She was tiny, fragile looking with short white fur and pretty blue eyes.

"Come on, if you don't get up now, your'e going to miss it!" She warned, gazing into Duskpaw's own green eyes before darting away. The orange and brown apprentice stood and shook of her sleepiness, before following the white she-cat. Duskpaw almost hadn't gotten up in time; some of the cats were already leaving, Memorystar at the head of the group. She fell into step directly behind Honeyfur, her mother. The tan she-cat turned around and gazed at her daughter with bright green eyes, that twinkled as usual, before turning her gaze back towards the front.

The trip to the Gathering place wasn't a long one. They circled the lake, staying so close to it that waves lapped at their feet. When it came time to jump onto the great log that took them to the island, Duskpaw was second to last. Her mind flashed back to the first time she had done this (she had been so scared then), and remembered how easy it had actually been. With her powerful hind legs, she leapt up onto the log, digging her claws into it for a second to regain her balance. She padded along the length of it, and was on the island before she knew it.

Different smells reached her at the same time, and her head swam for a moment, But then she was able to tell them apart; all the other clans were already there. As she looked past a fern, she saw them. Cats of different sizes, colors, and scents mingled with eachother, none exaclty friendly, but there was no hostility here. As she scanned through the cats around her, a bright ginger pelt stuck out from the rest. Flamepaw! She bounded over to the familiar tom, smiling.

"Hey, there!" She purred, forgetting momentarily that no one else knew of their meeting before. Flamepaw, however, knew that cats would ask questions if they acted to friendly, or gave it away that they had been friendly with eachother outside of Gatherings.

"Hi... have we met?" He said, cocking his head to one side. His eyes begged her to go along with his act. Fortunatley, she got the hint. "I saw you here the first time we met." She mewed quickly. _Nice Save._

Flamepaw squinted his eyes, keeping up the act. It was kind of fun. "Oh yeah... I remember you!" He said slowly. "...Duskpaw, right?"

"Right." She chuckled.

Before she could say anything else, however, a yowl from one of the leaders broke through the quiet chattering of the cats around her. She turned her attention to them; the Gathering was officially beginning.

It appeared that Rushingstar, the RiverClan leader, would speak first. "One of our queens recently gave birth to a healthy tomkit. Also, we apprenticed one cat. Our warriors chased a fox out of our territory." She said it in a rush, like there was something else on her mind. The silver tabby she-cat stepped back, looking at her paws.

Next was WindClan's leader, another she-cat named Essencestar. She, too, was a silver she-cat, though not as much tabby. "WindClan has nothing much to report." She said stiffly, before returning to her former position. Duskpaw wondered at Essencestar's and Rushingstar's behaviors. Something was wrong.

Next to last to speak was Hallowstar, the only tom leader. He was the smallest of the leaders, but not the weakest. Something flashed in his eyes, but his voice was measured. He, too, seemed quick to get the Gathering over with. "Our Medicine Cat, Wisdomheart, has a new apprentice, Tawnypaw. She will be introduced to StarClan at the next Medicine Cat meeting. We apprenticed one other cat." He stepped back, gazing with bright yellow eyes at Memorystar.

The ThunderClan leader stepped forward. She was the only one out of the four who appeared calm and relaxed. She held her head high and proud. "ThunderClan has nothing to report." She mewed, almost sweetly.

The leaders all shared one long, meaningful glance before seperating. Duskpaw turned quickly to her new friend, Flamepaw. "What was all that about?" He shrugged, knowing exactly what she was talking about. The leaders anxiety couldn't have ben easily missed. "I'm sure we'll found out soon." He mewed, looking as though he, too, had something on his mind.

"Hey..." He said, after a moments pause. "You should meet me at the border again, tomorrow night. Where we met last time." He suggested, looking at his paws.

Duskpaw blinked, considering it. It would be risky, and she could get in a LOT of trouble for doing it. Then again, it would be fun... getting to know another apprentice other than one in her own clan. "We'll see." She said, not wanting to make any promises. She wouldn't want to break any if she decided not to go.

"Okay." He meowing, understanding, before dashing away to join his clanmates. She watched him go, before bounding over to Skypaw. They began a quiet conversation, but her mind was elsewhere, with a handsome ginger apprentice.

~A moon and a half later~

_The orange and black she-cat was chasing after a mouse, much like the first day she had met Flamepaw. But she wasn't Duskpaw anymore--She went by Duskheart now. And he by Flamepelt. She killed the mouse quickly with a easy blow to the head, and stared triumphantly at it. A rustling came from her left, and she realized how closely she had come to the ShadowClan border. She took a step back, eyes widening. Was it a patrol of enemy cats, coming to accuse her of prey-stealing? She let out a sigh of relief, followed by a wide grin, when she realized that it was just Flamepelt. He was so much bigger than when they had first met, so much handsomer. He let out a smile that matched her own, and stepped forward to touch noses. She purred, rubbing her cheek against the side of his face, when he--_

_"_Duskpaw, wake up!" Skypaw nudged Duskpaw. It was early in the morning, and they both were needed for the Dawn patrol. Over a moon had passed since that Gathering, Duskpaw was now a little over 9 moons old, when Flamepaw had first suggested that they meet in secret. Since then, the two had met often. Not every night, for Duskpaw knew that somecat would notice eventually if she went missing every night. They met every 3 sunsets, close to the lake. They never strayed far from the border; they were very careful. She had learned so much about him since then. He was a moon older than her, and he had a sister named Tawnypaw. His mentor was a black and silver she-cat named Emberheart. His mother was Willorfur and his father was Canaryfur.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Duskpaw growled lightheartedly, covering her eyes with her paws. She knew that she was breaking the warrior code by meeting Flamepaw secretly, but she just couldn't help herself. Other than Skypaw, she didn't have many other friends in her own clan. And Flamepaw was so much fun! She enjoyed her time spent with him more than any other.

Sighing, the apprentice got to her feet. She quickly met the others outside; it wasn't a large patrol, just her, Skypaw, her mother Honeyfur (who was also Skypaw's mentor), Stonefur, and the deputy of ThunderClan Birchtail. ThunderClan was currently thriving more than any other Clan; it was the largest anyways. Prey was Scare around the lake; most of it was in their territory. This was in large part because of the foxes; several had joined the cats in living around the lake, and they had been chasing foxes out every moon it seemed. The large orange creatures were stealing their prey, and the other 3 clans had to fight for the little they had. Since ThunderClan remained strong, they remained able to fight off the foxes better than the others.

They got about halfway around the border, and so far everything seemed normal. "Can't we take a break up ahead?" Duskpaw asked Stonfur. She had stepped on a thorn, and the pad of her foot was incredibley sore. Without waiting for an answer, she darted ahead as well as she could on three paws, and gasped. They were at the part of their territory, were the stream that bordered ThunderClan territory and WindClan emptied itself into the lake. In front of the apprentice stood three scrawny WindClan cats, an apprentice and two warriors. Between them lay a fat rabbit, or atleast the remains of one.

Stonefur pushed past his apprentice, a growl building in his throat. "Tresspassers!" He hissed, unsheathing his claws. Before Honeyfur and Birchtail could join them, the WindClan cats darted away, leaping quickly over the narrow stream. Stonefur moved to go after them, but Birchtail, held his tail out to block his way. "No. We need to speak to Memorystar about this." He said, his voice deepened with irritation. As they spoke, Duskpaw watched the tresspassers dart across their own territory. _They look like they haven't had a decent meal in a moon!_She thought sympathetically. She let herself be led back to camp, the WindClanners on her mind.


End file.
